Female Maroon Oriole a record shot, Bhutan

The maroon oriole is a species of bird in the family Oriolidae. It is found in Southeast Asia. The maroon oriole has maroon and black plumage with a black head, neck and wings with a blueish beak. The females have slightly darker bodies and the juveniles have lighter bodies. The adult male is glossy crimson-maroon in color, with black head, neck and wings and a chestnut-maroon tail. The females and immature males have a greyish-white underpart with black streaks. Colouration varies somewhat across the range, with those in the Indian Subcontinent having duller colours and those in Southeast Asia having brighter colours, also tending to somewhat reddish tones.

The maroon oriole is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam. In India, it is found from Himachal Pradesh east to Arunachal Pradesh and the hills of Manipur. Its natural habitat is Dense moist deciduous, semi-evergreen or evergreen forests and forest edge – subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The maroon oriole eats Nectar, berries, fruits, especially figs (Ficus), and invertebrates, e.g. caterpillars. Not globally threatened. Fairly common to common in most parts of its range and is classified as least concern by IUCN.